A Georgia appeals court rules Fulton County can reject GOP election board picks
ATLANTA (AP) — An appeals court in Georgia ruled Friday that the state’s largest county does not have to appoint two Republican candidates to the county election board; It’s a decision that could quell GOP challenges to how to run elections in heavily Democratic districts.
The state Court of Appeals found that Fulton County’s elected leaders must appoint two county board of elections members from among candidates provided by the county Republican Party, but that county commissioners have the freedom to reject the names and ask for other options.
The Democratic majority on the Fulton County Commission voted last year to reject Republican candidates Julie Adams and Jason Frazier, saying their actions made them ineligible for military service. The county Republican Party filed a lawsuit and a judge He ordered the commission members Voting to confirm Adams and Frazier, find the board disrespectful After refusing. Friday’s decision means the county won’t have to file contempt fine of $10,000 per day It was suspended pending appeal.
According to a unanimous opinion In a three-judge panel, Judge Anne Barnes wrote that commissioners were required to choose from a slate of Republican candidates, but that they “acted within their legal and discretionary authority when they refused to seat” the party’s preferences. The solution, he wrote, was for the Republican Party to present new candidates.
Republicans can appeal to the state Supreme Court, but the justices are not required to take the case. An attorney for the county Republican Party did not immediately respond to an email asking whether an appeal was planned.
The five-person district election board includes a chairman elected by the commissioners and two candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties in the district, who are then appointed by the commissioners. To be eligible, candidates must live in Fulton County, be registered to vote, and not hold or run for public office.
Adams has served on the election board since February 2024. refused to issue certificate Last year’s primary election results and unsuccessfully sued the electoral board It seeks an order saying county officials can refuse to certify elections. Frazier has officially challenged Eligibility of thousands of Fulton County voters. Both are important figures in the Republican coalition. continues to challenge The validity of Donald Trump’s loss in Georgia in 2020 and press for changes how elections will be held.
Adams’ term ended in June. However, he will remain on the election board until he or someone else is appointed. The other Republican seat remained vacant.
Frazier said the decision gives Democratic commissioners too much latitude to force Republicans to appoint nominees Democrats like.
“If this holds, Democrats on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners can essentially elect Democrat Electoral College Members, the Chairman, AND REPUBLICANS!!!!!!!!” Frazier wrote on social media.
Democrat Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett, who said she voted against appointing Adams and Frazier in the Georgia secretary of state race this year, welcomed the decision against appointing “MAGA extremists.”
“The defamation charges, fines, and threats of imprisonment are all overturned with today’s decision,” Barrett said in a statement. “This is a big win for Georgia voters and a win for free, fair and secure elections.”
Most election boards in Georgia are appointed in the same manner as Fulton County, and Friday’s decision could allow county commissions across the board to reject political party candidates with whom they disagree. In metro Atlanta, that could mean Democratic county commissioners could reject Republican activists who claim Democratic counties aren’t running elections properly, but it could also reduce Democrats’ ability to be represented on election boards in Republican areas of the state.
A 2018 state Supreme Court decision had already weakened parties’ ability to automatically place candidates on election boards.
In 2024, Cherokee County, a predominantly Republican suburb of Atlanta, considered appointing just one Democrat to the county’s five-member election board. Refusing to do so, commissioners then chose a Democrat unknown to county Democratic Party leaders instead of the party’s nominee.
